Jamie Carragher has issued a public apology to Mohamed Salah on live TV after the player made scathing comments about the Liverpool forward. Speaking on Monday Night Football, Carragher called Salah’s outburst after Saturday’s stalemate with Leeds United “disgraceful” and questioned whether the Egyptian ace would ever appear at the club again.
The former Liverpool defender said: “Every time Mo Salah stops in a mixed zone, which is four times in eight years, I think it’s choreographed by him and his agent to do maximum damage and strengthen his position. He stopped there 12 months ago. “I called him out on this show for that, but he played something that really struck a chord with Liverpool supporters. Liverpool were top of the league and he had scored the winning goal at Southampton, and it was time for that to come out.” And to put pressure on Liverpool’s owners, banners reading “Give Mo the Dough” will be hung in the crowd for the rest of the season.
“He chose this weekend to do this. I think he was waiting for a bad result for Liverpool. It feels like a last-minute goal that leaves the supporters, the manager, everyone at the club in turmoil. And he chose that moment for the manager and maybe to sack him.”
On Tuesday, Carragher appeared on CBS Sports to coach the Champions League match alongside Micah Richards, Thierry Henry and presenter Kate Scott.
After discussing Salah’s problematic comments, Mr Richards confronted Mr Carragher directly and said: “Do you just want to apologize to Mr Mo and say sorry for the disrespect you’ve shown?”
“It just comes from passion, you’re a fan, go ahead and say it into the lens.”
Carragher responded: “Mo, I’m sorry if I’ve upset you. I love you as a Liverpool player, but you need to behave yourself off the pitch.”
“That makes sense, it seemed very genuine,” Mr Richards admitted, before offering Mr Carragher a handshake.
The Egyptian forward was left out of Arne Slott’s squad following his public comments and was absent from Liverpool’s win over Inter Milan at the San Siro on Tuesday night.
However, the Reds manager later gave Salah the chance to salvage his Anfield career if he felt the winger had made a mistake.
He said: “The first thing to think about is: does the player think he made a mistake? I’m not saying we won’t talk to him.
“The next question is should the initiative come from me or from him? That’s also a question to answer.
“But the focus tonight should be, for example, Virgil (van Dijk), because the fans are singing about him. But it’s not just Virgil. Ibou Konate has had some difficult moments recently, but today he played a great game against two very good strikers.”
